The Education Of Diana Prince
by Admiral
Summary: In a world where Wonder Woman has no secret identity, one needs to be created. Batman, alias Bruce Wayne, is the perfect man for the job.
1. The Plan

**DISCLAIMER:** _Justice League Unlimited and all related characters are the property of Time Warner, Inc. and DC Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The original characters and events are the sole property of the author and may not be used without permission. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Batman created by Bob Kane. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marsden._

* * *

**THE EDUCATION OF DIANA PRINCE**

**by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

The venue for the conversation had been Bruce's idea. Since this was a meeting about a fellow Leaguer and a mutual friend, it was one of the security measures he insisted on. If anyone were sharp enough to notice that billionaire Bruce Wayne and reporter Clark Kent were having _le Grande_ espressos together at a table in Ishmael's Cafe - one in Metropolis; there weren't any franchises in Gotham - they could both say later that Kent was doing a story on one of Wayne's contemporaries and was interviewing Wayne on background while he was doing business in the city.

The other security measures were only possible because of who Bruce was talking to. Clark's super-hearing meant that Bruce could talk in his lowest whisper and still be heard, while his super-ventriloquism - a little-known trick Clark had taught himself to compensate for a faulty comm-link - meant he could speak directly into Bruce's ears even from across the table. This way, only a talented lip-reader would get anything out of eavesdropping on them. At first blush the precautions seemed like overkill. After all, they could simply have met in the Watchtower and talked openly, but Bruce's schedule didn't allow for him to visit the station before his normal watch rotation. This was the next best option.

Besides, Clark had to admit, he'd decided to seek Bruce out precisely because the man thought that way about certain things. He watched now as Bruce contemplated his request while staring out of a nearby window. Finally he turned back and asked, "Are you sure this is what Diana wants?"

Clark shrugged. "It was her suggestion. I offered to help her myself, but she thought you'd be better at it."

Bruce's eyebrow went up. "Did she say why?"

"She actually tried to dance around it, but I think I know why. I think you do, too."

Bruce smirked. He had figured it out. This was about identity, and identity was as much about what one thought of oneself as the image one presented to other people. Clark, for all his origin and his abilities, thought of himself simply as a Kansas farm boy who grew up to become a mild-mannered reporter for a great Metropolitan news-paper...a reporter that just happens to don a colorful strongman outfit and cape and change the course of mighty rivers every once in a while. For Clark, "Superman" the persona was the costume, one he put on whenever he used his gifts so that "Clark" could live a normal life. For Bruce it was the exact opposite. Since the first day he put on his union suit "Bruce Wayne" had been the costume, one that provided him access to a world of privilege and helped him to make lots of money during the day so that his real persona could dress like a bat and get down to his real business at night.

That was key. Clark could never teach Diana how to be as normal as he was because he'd been raised that way. Bruce, however, had been faking it for ages. Presumably, he could teach someone else to be just as good at it.

He turned to look out the window again. This time Clark caught the telltales in Bruce's face that showed he was planning. It was just like him to approach the problem like a chess game, even though there was no opponent. He was laying out moves, counter-moves and contingencies in his head. When he turned back, all trace of doubt in his body language had disappeared. "We'll both need an indefinite leave of absence from League business. This project will be for naught if we have to take time out to take down Starro in the middle of it."

"We'll let J'onn know," Clark said.

"Give me some time to prepare. I'll contact Diana and let her know when I'm ready to begin...and to find out if she still wants to go through with it."

"I'm sure she will."

Clark smiled and reached his hand across the table. Bruce smiled back as they shook, then both men got up and left the cafe. They went in opposite directions. Clark turned down a narrow alley two buildings away. A few moments later someone yelled "Look! Up in the sky!" as a familiar red and blue streak arced over the tops of nearby skyscrapers.

Bruce's exit was far less dramatic. He walked crosstown three blocks to the parking garage where he'd left his Lamborghini. A few minutes later he was on the road and heading for the airport. While he waited for a red light, he called out, "Call Alfred," which activated his cell phone in hands-free mode.

Alfred answered on the first ring. "Good afternoon, Sir. I trust your business was concluded satisfactorily?"

"It's only just begun. I want you to start working on some transactions for me." He explained briefly.

"Enigmatic as ever, Sir. Are we opening a franchise?"

"I'll explain everything when I get back."

"Very good, Sir. I'll anticipate your arrival."

"End call," Bruce said. He almost had his lesson plan fully formed. It just required information only Diana could provide.

_So, she wants to have a secret identity? I wonder if she knows what she's getting into..._


	2. The Pupil

**DISCLAIMER:** _Justice League Unlimited and all related characters are the property of Time Warner, Inc. and DC Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The original characters and events are the sole property of the author and may not be used without permission. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Batman created by Bob Kane. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marsden._

* * *

**THE EDUCATION OF DIANA PRINCE**

**by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Another Ishmael's and another meeting, this time in Chicago a month later. There was Bruce again, sitting across the table from Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Both of them were dressed casually, in shades of gray and black. Diana was wearing her long black hair in a ponytail, while Bruce had gone to the trouble of getting a crew cut and growing a soul patch over the intervening weeks. Diana forced herself not to mention it made him look funny to her, because he'd already explained why he'd done it. _Extreme styles help draw the eye away from the parts of the face that aid in recognition._ He was teaching by example, creating yet another persona to add to what she was sure was a formidable collection of them.

Of course, she'd already decided that nothing would make her cut her hair, and she couldn't grow a soul patch, so Bruce had said that camouflage would be required. She sighed at his method of choice, adjusting the heavy-framed eyeglasses on her face. They'd been borrowed from Clark. "Are you sure these are working?" She asked.

"Maintaining your identity depends entirely on what you can get other people to focus on," Bruce said, "so you give them obvious landmarks. A soul patch, close-cropped hair, an eyepatch, a scar...glasses work for Clark because his best friends are only human and therefore only regard him in a cursory manner. They don't see the structure of the jaw, the set of the eyes, his height or his build. They see his glasses and his off-the-rack suit and retiring manner and say 'That's Clark Kent. It certainly can't be _Superman_, who doesn't need glasses and dresses more colorfully.' All the glasses need to do is keep people from looking too closely at your features. They always draw the eye, even when they're on the most attractive faces."

Diana suddenly brightened and said with a smile, "So...you think I'm attractive?"

Bruce smirked. "I also think you're avoiding your classwork."

Diana frowned. "Yes, sir," she said, then she returned to her assignment of observing the people around them as surreptitiously as possible. _To blend with them, observe them. Study their mannerisms and pick them up. Adopt as many as you can and use them to supplement your identity._ In a moment of weakness she let slip the opinion that it would be easier to just be herself. _Of course it would, Learned Master Bruce reminded her, but the point of a **secret** identity is that "yourself" is the one person you** can't** be._

So Diana sipped her cappuccino and watched the other patrons with her peripheral vision while keeping her head generally pointed toward Bruce. Bruce continued his lectures as she studied. "You're going to have to get used to the glasses. I want you wearing them whenever you're out in public in soft clothing."

"Soft?"

"A cop term. It means any type of civilian clothes. Anything but the uniform."

"Very well...I just wish they were a little less...obtrusive..."

"Well, we can find a more feminine set of frames for you, but remember, the more obtrusive they are..."

"...the more useful they are as a disguise. I remember, Bruce."

Bruce nodded and continued. "We'll spend the next several weeks getting you used to your new identity the best way possible: total immersion. From now on, you'll live as Diana Prince during the day and study the legend we created for her at night. You'll shop, run errands and introduce yourself to others as Diana Prince, until being Diana Prince becomes second nature to you." Diana nodded, but her eyes stopped tracking other patrons and were cast down. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think it's in my nature to be so deceptive..." she muttered.

"Well then why..."

"I felt like a hypocrite for telling J'onn he should interact more with the people we protect without really trying to do it myself."

"I don't think he sees it that way. Still, if you don't think you can do it..."

"Don't be sneaky, Bruce. Of course I'll do it. I promised I'd see this through, and I will." She smiled a little. "I admit, I'm a little jealous of J'onn's shapeshifting ability."

"Don't be. Being able to look like anyone or anything is meaningless if you act totally alien. J'onn has had to work just as much as you're going to to establish his identity. Frankly, I'd rather find a way to turn off the powers you have."

This made her look up at him with wide blue eyes. "Why?"

"Total immersion. Average people don't fly, or move fast enough to deflect bullets with their bracelets, or commune with gods and mythical beings. In my estimation, we'll have better luck getting you accustomed to being Diana Prince if the change in identity were physical as well as mental."

Diana just stared at him for a moment, then she blushed, a reaction he never expected. Then she nursed her coffee and said softly, "There might be a way. I'll...tell you about it back in the apartment, all right?" She could feel him appraising her now, and winced inwardly at the possibility that she had just volunteered too much information.

Bruce just regarded her with curiosity. He could understand her being reluctant to give up her powers, but the embarrassment in her body language hinted at something different. He wasn't sure what yet, but assumed he'd figure it out eventually. "All right," he said. "Five more minutes here and we'll head back."

Diana nodded and resumed her observation.

* * *

Bruce and Diana were staying together in a modest two-bedroom apartment in an old walk-up on Chicago's South Side. Alfred had scouted it out. It was leased under the names "Wayne King" and Diana Prince. If anyone asked, Wayne King was an ex-boxer and current trainer teaching young fighters how to use their fists in the ring. Ms. Prince was his long time live-in girlfriend. They had sub-let the apartment for six months. Bruce was sure that would be enough time to do what they needed to do.

Diana handed Bruce her jacket as they walked in the door. "I'll just be a minute," she said, then she trotted off through the living room and into the back hall. Bruce put their coats away and checked the telltales he'd left around the living room to see if they had been disturbed. They were all still in place, which _probably_ meant that no one had broken in. Bruce didn't care if it seemed paranoid. A person didn't survive battles with the likes of Bane and Killer Croc if he took anything for granted. Still, he was reasonably confident that the place was secure.

It was also decorated well enough to convince anyone that Wayne King and Diana Prince were real people. The furniture had come with the apartment, and it fit nicely, so they'd kept it. Diana picked out new curtains and brought in a few plants, Bruce brought in a new flat screen TV (a moderate-sized one) and together they brought with them photos of Wayne and Diana together in various cities (expertly Photoshopped fakes), trophies from Wayne's boxing days (ones crafted in the machine shop in the Batcave) and Grecian statuettes (actually valuable items from Themyscira, which until now had been decorating her quarters on the Watchtower). The bulk of these items were placed with loving care around the living room, along with paintings and small framed pictures of other family members (complete strangers).

A quiet flushing sound drew his attention. A minute later he heard the bathroom door open and Diana step from the bathroom to her bedroom. A minute after that Diana came back into the living room carrying her magic lasso. She walked over to Bruce and held it out to him. "I recently discovered the weakness in my lasso: If a man uses it to bind me, I lose my powers."

Bruce's eyebrow went up. "Really? Seems silly..."

Diana shrugged. "Everything Hephaestus creates has a flaw like that. I suppose the idea is to keep their users from getting too prideful. I'm assuming that the lesson intended for me is that if I let a man use one of my weapons against me I don't deserve the other special gifts I received from the gods." On that ironic note, she held the lasso closer to Bruce.

Still skeptical, Bruce took the lasso in his hands. "Is it necessary to hog-tie you?"

Diana smiled. "Just the fact you're male triggers it. Coiling it around my waist should be enough."

Bruce actually coiled it twice, just to make sure it completely encircled her, then he held the rope in place. The soft glow the lasso usually possessed dimmed until the gold finish looked dull.

Diana held up her hand as if she were challenging Bruce to an arm wrestling match. Bruce held the lasso in his left hand and brought up his right. "This ought to be no contest for you," Bruce said as they clasped hands.

"I'll try my best," Diana said. With that they started wrestling. Diana put all the strength, leverage and determination she could muster into defeating Bruce. Bruce reciprocated, so accustomed was he to a woman who could hold fighter jets on the ground with brute strength. Instead Diana let out a yelp as Bruce wrenched her arm down in a swift, fluid motion. He released her hand immediately.

"Sorry," he said. It was the first time Diana had ever seen _him_ blush.

"It's okay," she said, flexing her wrist. "I knew what was coming."

"So now all of your powers are neutralized?"

Diana nodded. "I'm just a perfectly ordinary woman now."

Bruce smirked and thought, _Perfect maybe, but hardly ordinary,_ then said, "And they'll come back as soon as I release you?"

"Try it and see," she said.

Bruce let the lasso slip until it loosened and fell to the floor at Diana's feet. The lasso's sheen immediately returned. When he looked back up at Diana she was holding her hand up again. This time, putting all of his strength into it, Bruce felt as if he were trying to topple a cement wall one-handed. Diana just smiled and watched him waste his time. When he finally gave up, she put her hands behind her back and said, "Satisfied?"

Bruce just contemplated her for a moment, then said, "All right. From now on I'll bind you each morning before we both head out and release you at night. During the week I want you to come to the gym after hours so I can give you a crash course in hand-to-hand combat."

"I already know how to fight," she said, insulted.

Bruce didn't back down. "You know how to fight with Superman-level strength and speed, which is_ not_ the same as knowing how to fight as a 'perfectly ordinary woman.' You've rarely faced anyone who overpowers you so you need to learn how to survive and win against such an opponent. I'll teach you. I want you to spend the rest of the evening going over the legend we've created for you. By the end of the week I want you to be able to answer questions about your fake past as if the events actually happened." He turned abruptly and headed to the front door.

While he put on his peacoat and ski hat, Diana asked, "Where will you be?"

"Getting the lay of the land," he said. The edge in his voice told her that, even without the cape and cowl, Batman was about to hit the streets of Chicago. "Lock up behind me and reset the door telltale. Don't wait up." He was out the door a second later.

Diana stared after him with her jaw dropped and her hands on her hips. After a minute she just shook her head and retrieved her lasso. On the way back to her bedroom she realized something. She'd already known for a while that she could learn to love Bruce Wayne.

Tonight, she learned there were times when she could _hate_ him, too, hate him with a passion.

"Now I know how Catwoman must feel..." she muttered.


End file.
